Carnal Sin

authorized to provide any resources necessary to restore the mission as quickly as possible, and Anthony is the best to oversee the project.”

“So Anthony is going to Italy,” Moira said, “and you’re taking the demon to Olivet. What do Rafe and I do? Sit around and twiddle our thumbs?”

Rico said, “You will continue to do what you need to do.”

“Can you be a little more vague?” Rafe said.

“Raphael, we need to find out exactly what happened to you during your coma, or you could be a risk to all of us.”

Rafe slowly rose from his seat. “I am not a risk.”

“That’s not what he meant,” Moira intervened. “Rico.”

“But that is what I meant,” Rico said flatly. “I appreciate loyalty, but for ten weeks the coven had Rafe under their thumb. We don’t know what they did to him, and we need to know. I have every available man searching for members of Fiona’s coven. Any luck with Richard Bertram?”

Skye said, “I’m still working on a subpoena for destroying Rafe’s medical records, but Bertram claims it was an accident.”

Rico dismissed her legal authority, and Rafe saw it irritated the sheriff. Rico said, “Make no mistake: our primary responsibility is to capture the Seven before we lose more lives. And second? Find and destroy the Conoscenza.” He looked at Moira. Something crossed his face, but when Rafe tried to figure out what had disturbed Rico, the trainer’s cold, blank expression returned.

For a split second, Rafe thought Rico had looked scared.

“That’s my job,” Moira said lightly, belying the seriousness of the conversation.

“Yes it is,” Rico said softly.

Something was wrong, and it bothered Rafe that he couldn’t put his finger on it. It had to do with Moira, and by extension her safety. He would damn well figure out what was going on.

Skye’s phone vibrated on the table, and she grabbed it up and excused herself, walking outside onto the deck.

“Where’s the girl now?” Rico asked, changing the subject.

“The girl?” Rafe asked.

“The arca.”

“Her name is Lily,” Rafe said.

Anthony shot him a glance. Rafe wasn’t about to back down. Rico could damn well think of Lily as a person. When she was thought of as anything less, she’d become expendable, a martyr to the cause. Rafe wasn’t going to let that happen to the teenager that Father Philip died to save.

“She’s with Deputy Hank Santos,” Anthony said. “He has assisted us.”

“I read your report,” Rico said impatiently. “Santos was affected by one of the demons; he may be susceptible again.”

“Jared is keeping an eye on the situation,” Moira said.

“The girl’s-” Rico hesitated, then said, “Lily’s boyfriend? So we have hormones involved? Can we trust his judgment, considering he was willing to participate in an occult ritual ostensibly to save his girlfriend?”

“He understands the situation now,” Moira said. “He’s not going to make the same mistake.”

“All it takes is one mistake. He either exercised poor judgment or he was under the influence of a spell. Either way, he’s weak.”

“He’s not weak,” Moira defended Jared. “Young, but not weak. I’ll work with him.”

“Then he’s your responsibility,” Rico said, showing his irritation and his true colors. Rico did not like mistakes, not even one. “You’d better keep him in line.”

“One mistake is all it takes to die,” Rico had told Rafe during his training at Olivet. “One mistake and people you care about die. One mistake and you lose your soul.”

Skye stepped back into the room and cleared her throat. “If you’re done bickering, I have some news. Rod- Dr. Rod Fielding, the coroner,” she added for Rico’s benefit, “got a call from the Los Angeles morgue. Three confirmed demon’s marks in L.A.” She held out her BlackBerry to show Rico.

He glanced at the digital photograph and asked, “What do you think?”

Anthony held out his hand, but Rico handed the phone to Moira. A wash of unease ran down Rafe’s neck from the anger coming off Anthony. No one else seemed to notice.

“Fuck,” Moira said and handed Anthony the phone. “Not identical to the others, but close.”

Skye said, “The L.A. coroner will allow me to view the bodies, but they won’t send them up here.”

“I’ll go with you,” Anthony said.

“You’re going to St. Michael’s,” Rico reminded him. “Your flight leaves today.”

“Skye can’t go to L.A. alone,” Anthony said. “She doesn’t know what she’ll face, she doesn’t have the training-”

Skye said, “Rod Fielding and I are going to view the bodies, talk to the coroner and the investigating officers, find out about the victims. Rod wants to show the L.A. coroner the brains of two of our victims. Apparently, one of the L.A. vics has a similar anomaly. I’ll be back tonight-it’s only a three-hour drive.”

“What if you locate Fiona’s coven? It’s too great a risk, and if the marks prove to be true demon’s marks, we’ll know that one of the Seven is in L.A. It’s too dangerous to go there alone-for any of us.”

Rico said, “Moira will go with her.”

“I’ll go as well,” Rafe added.

“No.” Rico didn’t even look at Rafe when he spoke. “There’s no need for you to go. Moira is a trained hunter.”

Rafe bit back his displeasure, wanted to argue, but Moira was looking at him, silently asking him why he was being so hostile. Rafe didn’t like seeing Moira worried about him, but her eyes betrayed her concern. She’d been apprehensive about him and the memories he had-memories that weren’t his. They didn’t speak of it often, and Anthony had dismissed Rafe’s recollections as remnants of his magic-induced coma. At least Anthony pretended he wasn’t concerned. But Rafe didn’t like being the brunt of scrutiny, and he didn’t want Moira or anyone looking at him as though he were crazy. Or worse, that he was somehow being used by the coven.

Then she said, “Rafe should come with us to L.A. We can cover more ground with the three of us there, and leave Dr. Fielding to talk shop with the coroner.”

Rico didn’t look happy that she’d contradicted him, and Rafe held back a grin.

“That’s fine with me,” Skye said. “But we should get going. It’s a long drive.”

Moira walked around the table. “Is this what it’s going to be like?” Everyone turned to look at her, unsure of what exactly she was driving at. Her eyes settled on Rafe’s. “We won’t know where the damn demons are until people start dying?”

Skye said, “My thoughts exactly.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to swing by the station and let them know I’ll be out all day, clear up a few things.”

“I’ll get my stuff together,” Moira said and left the room.

Skye asked, “How do we know which demon is at work and where it is?”

“That’s easy,” Rafe said. “Look at the deaths and find out what the victims were doing when they died. That will lead us to the demon.”

Anthony nodded in agreement. “When we trapped Envy, it was because we figured out the common denominator of the four people who died. Once we know what connects the victims in L.A., we can devise a plan on how to trap it.”

“With another tabernacle?” Skye asked.

“That,” Anthony said, “is one thing I’m uncertain about. I hope Dr. Lieber has the answers. At this point, I’d be happy with a theory.”

Moira returned wearing her custom leather jacket, her satchel with the tools of her trade draped over her shoulder.

“I’m ready when you are, Sheriff. And Rico?” She paused until Rico looked at her. “If you learn anything from my blood, let me know.”

After she walked out, Rafe glared at Rico. What was he planning for Moira?